What the stamp on your gold means, and what that gold is worth today
In short
Three digits are the gold content in thousandths: 417 is 10k (41.7% gold, $59.10 per gram today), 585 is 14k ($82.92), 750 is 18k ($106.30), 916 is 22k ($129.83), 999 is 24k. Letters change everything: GF, GP, HGE and RGP mean a gold layer over base metal, and 925 means silver. Type your stamp below as it is written.
Spot $4,408.50/oz t = $141.74/g · gold-api.com · 2026-09-04
Numbers: fineness and karat
| Stamp | Karat | Gold | Melt per gram | Where it is common |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 333 | 8k | 33.3% | $47.20 | Germany, Scandinavia; below the US legal minimum for "gold" |
| 375 | 9k | 37.5% | $53.15 | UK, Ireland, Australia |
| 417 | 10k | 41.7% | $59.10 | US budget and class rings, chains |
| 583 / 585 | 14k | 58.3–58.5% | $82.92 | US everyday gold; 585 is the European form |
| 750 | 18k | 75.0% | $106.30 | fine jewelry worldwide, Italy, France, Switzerland |
| 875 | 21k | 87.5% | $124.02 | Middle East |
| 916 | 22k | 91.6% | $129.83 | India (BIS hallmark), Gulf states |
| 999 / 9999 | 24k | 99.9% | $141.59 | bullion, Chinese and Thai jewelry |
The number is the fineness: parts of gold per thousand. Karat is the same fraction out of 24, so 14 ÷ 24 gives 583 and the European rounding gives 585; American pieces carry either. A K after a number (14K, 18K) says karat directly. Whatever else is stamped next to the number is not about purity: 417 ASK, a stamp people search for constantly, is 10k gold plus the maker's registered trademark, and the same goes for the small symbols, initials and country marks around a British or Indian hallmark.
Where to find the stamp
Rings
Inside the band, usually opposite the stone or at the bottom, in letters half a millimeter tall; tilt the ring under a lamp and use a phone camera zoom. Resized rings often lose the stamp when the jeweler cuts the band, so an unmarked ring that was resized is not suspicious.
Chains and bracelets
On the clasp tongue, on a small oval tag soldered next to the clasp, or on the jump ring; on Italian chains often on the clasp itself along with ITALY and a star and number. Cheap chains carry the stamp on the tag only, which can be swapped, so on a chain the stamp is weaker evidence than on a ring.
Earrings and pendants
On the post near the ear, on the back of the stud, on the butterfly back, or on the bail of a pendant. Small pieces are often marked only on one of a pair.
Watches
Inside the case back, where the case metal is stated separately from the movement; a gold-colored watch with no case stamp is plated.
Letters: when the number is not the whole story
A karat number followed by letters usually means the karat applies to a layer, not the piece. GF or 1/20 14K GF is gold filled: a sheet of 14k bonded to brass, at least a twentieth of the total weight by US rule, so a 10 gram piece holds about half a gram of 14k gold. RGP is rolled gold plate, the same idea with a thinner layer. GP, GEP and HGE are electroplating; HGE means the plating is thicker than the minimum, which is still measured in microns, so the gold in a plated chain is worth cents. Vermeil is plating over sterling silver. None of these pieces have meaningful melt value, and no honest buyer will weigh them with your solid gold.
Two letters go the other way. KP, as in 14KP, is karat plumb: the maker guarantees the full fraction with no downward tolerance, which mattered before 1981 when US law allowed 14K to run as low as 13.5k. And P alone after a karat means the same thing. A 925 stamp is sterling silver even when the metal is yellow; that is vermeil or plating, and the value is the silver.
Country marks, in brief
United States
A karat or fineness number with the maker's registered trademark beside it; no assay office, no date. The trademark is legally required if a purity is stamped, so a bare 14K with no maker mark is a small red flag.
Italy
750 or 585 plus a five-pointed star, a number and two letters (the maker's registration and province), often with ITALY spelled out on chains.
United Kingdom
A full hallmark set: the fineness (375, 585, 750, 916), an assay office symbol (a leopard's head for London, an anchor for Birmingham, a rose for Sheffield, a castle for Edinburgh), a sponsor's mark, and until 1999 a date letter. Pieces over 1 gram must be hallmarked to be sold as gold.
France
An eagle's head for 18k, an owl for imported gold; French gold is rarely below 750.
India
Since 2021 a BIS triangle logo, the fineness (916, 750, 585), and a six-character alphanumeric code (HUID) traceable online. Older Indian gold is often unmarked 22k.
Russia and former Soviet states
583 or 585 with a small star (Soviet) or a woman's head in a kokoshnik (Russian), plus a maker cipher.
- Eagle's headFrance, 750
- Star, number, provinceItaly, maker's mark
- Number in a shieldUK hallmark
- AnchorUK, Birmingham
- Leopard's headUK, London
- Woman in a kokoshnikRussia
- Star, hammer and sickleUSSR, 583
- BIS triangleIndia, 916 with HUID
- Scales in two circlesConvention mark
- Karat and trademarkUnited States
Fake and misleading stamps
A stamp costs nothing to strike, so a 14K on a chain proves only that someone owned a 14K punch. The common patterns: 14K alone with no maker's mark on a suspiciously light chain; 18KGP, 18KGE or 18K HGE, which are plated and read as 18K to a hopeful eye; 925 under a gold color on a piece sold as gold; and a good stamp on a tag that was soldered onto a different chain. Weight is the check the stamp cannot fake: a chain stamped 14K that weighs a third of what the weight estimator predicts for its size is hollow or not gold. When the stamp and the weight disagree, believe the weight, then test.
What the stamp does not tell you
It does not tell you the weight, and value is weight times purity, so a stamp without a scale is half a fact. It does not tell you whether the piece is hollow. It does not tell you whether the gold at the surface goes all the way through, which is exactly the question with plated pieces that carry a karat number for the plating. It does not tell you the condition of the solder joints, the clasp or the prongs. And it does not tell you whether the piece is worth more than melt: a 750 stamp on a signed piece from a known house is the least interesting mark on it. The stamp answers one question, what fraction of the metal is gold, and the other questions need a scale, a magnet and a jeweler.
No stamp, worn stamp
US law does not require a purity stamp; it only requires that a stamp, if present, be accurate and accompanied by a maker's trademark. So an unmarked piece can still be solid gold, and a stamped piece can be counterfeit. A missing or worn stamp means test before trusting: an acid test kit is cheap, an XRF reading at a refiner or pawn shop is usually free, and a magnet rules out steel but proves nothing else. Antique pieces, especially American ones before the 1906 stamping act, are often unmarked and often gold.
Questions people ask
What does 417 mean on gold?
10 karat: 417 parts per thousand, 41.7% gold, the legal minimum for the word gold in the United States. A gram of 417 holds $59.10 of gold at today's spot. It is the usual stamp on class rings and budget chains, and the one most often followed by a maker's mark such as ASK, which people read as part of the purity. It is not; it is the company.
What does 585 mean on a ring?
14 karat, 58.5% gold, written the European way; American makers stamp the same alloy 14K, and some older pieces 583. $82.92 per gram at spot. A small crown, boat or crescent beside the 585 is a national hallmark (Sweden, Finland and Turkey use symbols), not a flaw and not a second purity.
What does 750 mean on jewelry?
18 karat, 75% gold, the standard for fine jewelry outside the US and the stamp on nearly everything from Italy, France and Switzerland, often with a star and a number beside it, which is the Italian maker's registration. Melt value $106.30 per gram today, 28% above 14k for the same weight.
Is 925 gold?
No. 925 is sterling silver, 92.5% silver. A gold-colored piece stamped 925 is gold plating over silver, sold as vermeil when the plating is at least 2.5 microns of 10k or better. Its metal value is the silver: a 10 g piece holds about 9.25 g of silver, a few dollars, plus a trace of gold that would not buy a coffee.
What does GF or 1/20 14K GF mean?
Gold filled: a sheet of 14k gold bonded under heat and pressure to a brass core, at least one twentieth of the total weight. A 10 g gold-filled bracelet therefore carries 0.5 g of 14k, about 0.29 g of pure gold, worth $41.46. It wears like gold for years and is the honest budget metal, but it is not solid gold and no buyer will weigh it as such.
What does KP mean on gold?
Karat plumb. 14KP promises a full 58.3% gold with no tolerance below, which mattered before 1981, when US law let a piece stamped 14K run as low as 13.5k. Since then every US karat mark must be within 3 parts per thousand, so KP on a modern piece is a maker's habit rather than extra gold.
What does 916 mean on gold?
22 karat, 91.6% gold, the standard for Indian, Gulf and much Southeast Asian jewelry; in India it comes with the BIS triangle and a jeweler's code, compulsory since 2021. $129.83 per gram at spot. The alloy is soft enough to bend by hand in thin sections, which is why 916 pieces are chunky by design.